By Isabel Duarte
Dr Macdougall is the program director for the gerontology and thanatology graduate programs at Hood. She has worked at Hood for two years. She is a clinical psychologist who specializes in geriatric neuropsychology. Growing up, Dr. Macdougall wanted to be an actress on Broadway, and then she wanted to be a missionary. When she got to college, she decided on psychology because she wanted to help people in an applied way. For the first couple years of school, all she knew was that she liked cognitive testing, and that she didn’t want to work with kids. “They scared me, I never knew what to say to them”, she told me. The field of geriatric psychology really clicked for her when she took a class on it (with only one other person enrolled). She found she had a “unique passion for the problems that older adults faced” and she really appreciated their wisdom. Dr. Macdougall explained to me that the older population is one that especially needs well-trained psychologists, but is not paid as much attention as other age demographics.
One of the things Dr. Macdougall loves about psychology as a career is the variety it presents. She is a professor and a program director, she collaborates with other psychologists on research; She can use her knowledge how she wants to, because there are so many different ways to apply it. What she doesn’t like is the way people react to her at social events once they find out she’s a psychologist. “One of two things happens… they run away from me because they think I can read their mind… or they start telling me about their friend or kid and want advice”. She handles the second situation very gracefully, joking that she “can only help if they’re over the age of 65”.
Dr, Macdougall’s advice for students was to get real world experience in what you think your career may be: especially if you’re not sure. “Try and find something to pursue that you will feel good about getting up and doing every day. Your work life will last a very long time.” As for school right now? Dr. Macdougall’s advice is “Don’t worry about getting straight A’s. Life is more than your grades.”
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